MONCRIEFF, Alexander Harcus
| Service Numbers: | SX1477, 304527 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/1st Machine Gun Battalion |
| Born: | Adelaide, South Australia, 3 October 1912 |
| Home Town: | Kensington Gardens, Burnside, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Engineering Assistant, S.A.R. |
| Died: | Adelaide, South Australia, 19 February 1987, aged 74 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia Cremation Date 23/02/1987 |
| Memorials: | Adelaide South Australian Railways WW1 & WW2 Honour Boards, Hackney St Peter's College WW2 Honour Roll, Kilburn Islington Railway Workshops Honour Roll |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Captain, SX1477 | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement Captain, 304527 | |
| 9 Jul 1942: | Discharged | |
| 9 Jul 1942: | Discharged SX1477, 2nd/1st Machine Gun Battalion | |
| Date unknown: | Enlisted SX1477, 2nd/1st Machine Gun Battalion |
Canadian Beer
In the evening of 15 February 1942, Capt. AH Moncrieff, commanding a composite company of five officers and 105 ORs, left their camp at L5 lines, AIF camp at Hill 95, Palestine, for Suez to guard 6th and 7th Division store dumps. They commenced their duty at Suez on 17 February 1942, after having travelled by truck, train and ferry across the Suez Canal at El Kantara.
One of their duties in Suez was guarding a huge quantity of Canadian-brewed beer. This was a prized duty, as the guards could easily ‘mine’ into the stack of crates, remove one, drink the contents and then replace the empties in a location where no stocktake would find them for weeks or months. It is not known if Capt. Moncrieff was aware of this practice by his men.
Source: 'A Quiet Man', Only Slightly Foxed Publications, 2024 - a history of 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion Private William Paul White, one of the men in Moncrieff's party.
Submitted 26 January 2024 by Rob Gray